"There was no human rights or dignity here."
| Between May 2022 and September 2022 | Anonymous | 45.7908691, 15.9976521 | Detention and Reception Reports | Greece | Paranesti PRDC, Police Station in Serres | Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC), Police Station | no | yes | no | no | no | no | Afghanistan, Pakistan | Property Damage, Verbal abuse, Harsh Language and Insults (Reference to Race, Reference to Gender, Reference to Ability, Reference to Sexuality), Theft of Belongings, phones taken, Beating (with Batons/Hands/Other) | Psychological Violence, Lack of Translation, Poor Quality/Quantity of Food and/or Water, Poor Hygiene Conditions, Lack of Translation of Documents, Lack of Access to Hot Water, Confiscation of devices, Physical Violence | 6 to 12 months |
The respondents are three men from Pakistan (31 - 45 years old) and Afghanistan (26-30 and 18-25-years- old). The group was reportedly apprehended in the second half of 2022 and subsequently held in a police station in Seres for over 70 days and then in Paranesti Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC) for approximately 6.5 months.
The transit group was initially apprehended in 2022 in Seres by 10 officers whom the respondents believed to be the police because of the uniforms they were wearing, which were black and blue. The officers reportedly told the group they were being apprehended because they did not have documents. One of the respondents explained that he had a police note telling him to leave Greece within 25 days, but the officers apprehended him anyway.
The group was then reportedly taken in what they identified as a police vehicle to a building in Seres which they believed to be a police station. The officers driving the vehicle reportedly picked up more people on the way to the police station, which was described as having two floors by the respondents. The group was reportedly held in a room on the ground floor, which had 10 beds in it.
The respondents reported that they were given a daily allowance for buying food from a market which came to the police station every day, but the food products were reportedly very expensive and this allowance did not cover much.
While detained at the police station in Seres, the group reportedly signed documents written in Greek without understanding their contents. There was no Farsi translator at the police station to help the respondents understand the documents, although there was one Arabic translator there.
After over 70 days, the group was reportedly transferred to Paranesti PRDC without being informed of a reason for their transfer and continued detention. They described there were eight people in the vehicle who were also transported to Paranesti.
The respondents described the hygiene conditions as poor at Paranesti PRDC. The group reported that they had their phones confiscated when they arrived at the PRDC and that when the phones were returned on their release, the cameras of the phones were smashed.
The group slept in a room with six bunk beds in it during their detention and reported that the food they were given was extremely low-quality. They additionally reported that the clothes the authorities gave them were very dirty and in some cases oversized.
The respondents reported that, sometimes, when they visited the doctor at Paranesti PRDC, they were held in handcuffs for the whole duration of the appointment.
The respondents recalled that the authorities at Paranesti often refused to turn on the hot water to enable detainees to take a shower. Some officers reportedly used abusive language, telling the respondents to: “go malaka, take a shower with cold water”. The respondents reported that if there was a “good” officer on duty then they would turn on the hot water.
The group additionally reported that they believed officers at Paranesti took some detainees to hidden buildings within the PRDC to inflict physical beatings on them. The group though that officers took people to these buildings because there were no cameras there, so the beatings could not be recorded. The respondents reported that they saw a man who had been taken away by officers with visible serious injuries all over his body, including on his legs and face, which took a long time to heal. The respondents additionally stated that the authorities at Paranesti were verbally abusive towards people detained here.
After approximately 6.5 months of detention, the respondents were reportedly told by officers at the PRDC that they had been there “long enough” and were being released.
One respondent added:
“There was no human rights or dignity here [at Paranesti PRDC]. The UN and other international NGOs talk about humanity and dignity but there was no such thing there. All of these organisations are aware of the situation and they are not doing anything, they are just closing their eyes, they don’t want to help. They are just talking about human rights but they are not taking any action.”